Clermont Woman Sentenced to Nine Years in Federal Prison for Investment Fraud

Clermont Woman Sentenced to Nine Years in Federal Prison for Investment Fraud

OCALA, FL—Senior U.S. District Judge Wm. Terrell Hodges has sentenced Jenifer E. Hoffman (39, Clermont) to nine years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and filing a false tax return. She was also ordered to pay more than $10.7 million in restitution. Hoffman pleaded guilty on June 29, 2015.

According to court documents, Hoffman and her two conspirators, John C. Boschert (43, Apopka) and Bryan T. Zuzga (39, Coldwater, Michigan), defrauded over $10 million from more than 100 victims through investments offered in connection with a company called Assured Capital Consultants. As part of their solicitations, the conspirators represented to investors that money would be placed in a Performing Private Placement Investment, and that Boschert had connections to the trading program being used. Investors were told that their investments would be safe and that none of their money would leave the attorney escrow account that belonged to Zuzga, who was represented as being an attorney licensed in Florida. Investors were further advised that their funds would be used as collateral for a line of credit, which would then be used in trading.

None of those representations were true. Zuzga was not an attorney licensed in Florida or any other state, and the funds were not deposited into any escrow account controlled by him. Instead, the three operated a scheme in which money from later investors was paid to earlier investors. The three also used some of the money from the scheme for themselves, including purchasing residences for Hoffman and Zuzga.

In a prior civil proceeding, the United States forfeited two residences belonging to Hoffman and Zuzga, which had been purchased with proceeds from the scheme. The government obtained more than $850,000 from the sale of the two properties, and the proceeds from those sales were distributed to the victims of the scheme.

Boschert and Zuzga previously pleaded guilty for their roles in this scheme. On June 23, 2015, Boschert was sentenced to nine years in federal prison. Zuzga was sentenced on September 24, 2015, to six years in federal prison.

This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service—Criminal Investigation, the United States Secret Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Roger B. Handberg, James Mandolfo, and Nicole M. Andrejko.